← 2.89.9 · Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa 89: Rāma invites Sītā into the Mandākinī · 2.89.11 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 2.89.10

Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, sarga 89: Rāma invites Sītā into the Mandākinī. He urges her to bathe and regard the mountain as Ayodhyā, the river as Sarayū and its animals as citizens

In the sequence: flowers float downstream and birds rise above the water

2.89.10

nirdhūtān vāyunā paśya vitatān puṣpasaṃcayān
poplūyamānān aparān paśya tvaṃ jalamadhyagān

See the masses of flowers shaken down by the wind and spread over the water; and see others floating about in the midst of the stream.

Words: nirdhūtān — shaken down; vāyunā — by the wind; paśya — behold; vitatān — spread out, extended; puṣpasaṃcayān — masses of flowers; poplūyamānān — floating, bobbing about; aparān — others; paśya tvaṃ — you behold; jalamadhyagān — moving in the midst of the water

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.